Radja Nainggolan spent his first night in jail and today at 2 pm he will appear before the investigating judge . Judicial sources quoted by the Belgian press report, it is a very important day for the former Cagliari footballer. The investigating judge is in fact called upon to decide whether to send him home or keep him , and from this too it will be clear how strong and how serious the charges against him are.
The midfielder is involved in an investigation into international drug trafficking , a criminal gang that imports cocaine from Latin America to Europe, through the port of Antwerp. The charges against him have not yet been detailed, according to the Belgian press Nainggolan is accused of laundering the gang's money .
The “Ninja”, 36 years old, was arrested yesterday morning. He was accompanied by 15 other people in handcuffs, and during the raid 2.7 kilos of cocaine, two bulletproof vests, numerous weapons (including firearms), 370 thousand euros in contacts, jewelry, luxury watches, cars and gold coins for a total value of 116 thousand euros were seized .
Nainggolan's interrogation lasted about three hours, the footballer denied any involvement. The words of his lawyer, Me Omar Souidi: " He is a footballer, not a criminal . I expect him to return to the pitch in Lokeren as soon as possible, he is mentioned in the file but has not yet been charged. Just because he has to answer certain questions does not mean he has anything to do with this matter."
The “Ninja” had long since left top-level football. And a week ago, after a long period of inactivity, he had signed a contract with Lokeren, a Belgian Serie B team with whom he had delighted everyone on his debut with an “Olympic” goal , scored directly from a corner.
Yesterday morning the sensational arrest . Nainggolan was with his girlfriend when the police went to search his home ( a luxury house, of which the Belgian media have released numerous images ). The officers found a friend of his, the footballer was notified and returned home, where he was arrested.
His new teammates reacted with dismay to the news. The club issued a statement in which it reiterated that it had learned of the arrest from the press. "As the investigation is still ongoing, the police are not willing and able to make any further comments and respect the principle of the presumption of innocence. As a club, we share this view. We can only confirm that the player was absent from training. Today, the club wants to focus exclusively on the important recovery match against KAS Eupen. Radja Nainggolan cannot play for this match."
(Unioneonline/L)